Club Troppo

Kooky eccentric, former UN Weapons Inspector and all-round funster, Richard Butler has just been appointed as Her Majesty's Representative in Tasmania. Last heard of banging on pretty much endlessly about Howard's perfidy in claiming Iraq had WMD - despite the fact that he him...

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There are few things I find more deliciously enjoyable than a story in which every single character is thoroughly detestable with no redeeming personal qualities whatsoever .

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Tony the Teacher doesn't think much of "Kasey Chamber-pot ", who he accuses of "inflicting on us the worst, most whiney, most tuneless, most irritating song in living memory". I certainly agree "Am I Pretty Enough?" is a first rate puke-inducing shocker, but the worst in livin...

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Blogger Paul Watson , whose work I greatly admire, has a chip on his shoulder. He sees himself as a "Generation Xer" whose opportunities in life have been circumscribed by the self-centred hedonism of the babyboomer generation that preceded him. It's a repetive theme on Paul's...

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I've just discovered through following blogroll links on Tubagooba that its author Dan is part of what may well be Australia's first (almost) complete blogging family. As well as Dan (whose surname appears to be Gordon), Dan's brother Angus also publishes a blog (a shiny new T...

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One fairly obscure aspect of the Manildra affair (which John Howard seems to have successfully if unjustly "toughed out" despite clearly lying to Parliament and failing to retract or apologise) relates to corporate political donations. The other day I heard Labor frontbencher...

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Jack Balkin blogs an interesting post about an attempt by Rupert Murdoch's (US) Fox News group to stifle free speech by litigating to enforce US trademark dilution laws: Fox News is suing Al Franken in the New York courts, attempting to enjoin sales of his forthcoming book, "L...

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The running feud between Christopher Sheil and Norman Hanscombe is really getting quite out of hand IMO, and spoiling everyone's enjoyment of what could otherwise be challenging and worthwhile debates. I don't intend to censor or ban anyone from this site because it's against...

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So ran the header on Radio Australia's Tokpisin News broadcast . The item related to John Howard's advocacy of former DFAT First Assistant Sec - and 25 year Pacific veteran - Greg Urwin, to head the Pacific Forum secretariat. Suva-based Pacific Islands magazine , in it's Augus...

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If you're a white/red-neck racist, sexist jerk with a chip on your shoulder, you'll be ostracised by "polite" middle class urban society and possibly dealt with by HREOC or a State or Territory anti-discrimination body for "racial vilification". If you're an urbanised (part) A...

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Christopher Sheil reckons there's no such thing as a Left Wing Death Beast. It sounds to me like a dubious proposition at best. What about Paul Keating? Admittedly it's a bit of a stretch describing him as a "left winger" but at least he's an ALP politician not a Tory. Here's...

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The post below this one introduces Stephen Hill as an occasional member of the Troppo Armadillo motley crew. Stephen published his own witty, elegant blog "Rambling Man" until fairly recently, but found the time demands unsustainable because of tertiary study/research commitme...

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Second instalment of an extended allegorical cricketing yarn, begun as a comment to the post Australia's worst government? : Well we've just come back from drinks, and there's little new to report. Adding to the scoreboard we have been a couple wides after a wayward over from...

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I've resisted until now the temptation to blog about the death penalty, because it's dancing to John Howard's tune. But I keep thinking about it, so I suppose I'll just have to write it out of my system. Others have already beaten me to the punch here , here and here (update -...

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Long lunch at Law School expense, thanking Law Librarians for their efforts in running e-tutorials under stress. Good food, fine wine, gazing out across the bay from the terrace of the restaurant at Darwin Museum, listening to Yothu Yindi playing their entire repertoire in reh...

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Yesterday's post Australia's worst government? generated one of the longest, most entertaining and occasionally incisive comment threads I can remember on Troppo Armadillo . Comment no. 54 by lapsed cultural blogger Stephen Hill is one of my favourites. Stephen manages to sust...

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I see that the High Court yesterday reversed an earlier Full Federal Court decision which had ruled in favour of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Club in relation to the circumstances of setting up the 14 team NRL competition to settle the so-called "superleague war". T...

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John Quiggin blogged yesterday on the fact that John Howard manifestly lied to Parliament over the Manildra/ethanol issue, and the equally manifest prospect that he'll get away with it. John also pointed out in a post-script that a former Howard Chief of Staff is now a Manildr...

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Geoff Honnor blogged on this not so long ago, but it's worth recording the gratifying news that Nigerian email scams are spawning rapidly, making the repetitive task of inbox deletion at least a bit more varied and entertaining. I received one from the Philippines the other da...

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If there's one aspect of the identity of the mysterious Professor Bunyip about which we can be completely confident, it's the fact that he really is a parent of teenage children. Only another fellow sufferer could have written this : The real surprise about teenagers isn't tha...

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